Good for them. In VA we still use standardized tests to rate our teachers effectiveness and they will pass anybody in order to keep their funding. Seriously, I walked across the stage with kids who could barely read and write at an elementary school level. It's insulting to the kids who worked hard and did well in school. At least this state seems to get that you cant reach every kid. Some of them are simply empty headed slack-jawed yokels who don't give a shiat about their education, and the school shouldn't be punished for that. I never thought I would say this, but good for Iowa.

it was 99% for years and years until the increased immigration from mexico and sudan the past two decades knocked it down some. I don't think it will take too long to get back up there though. I figure they must judge literacy as solely proficiency in english though as I assume most mexicans can write spanish.

besides, there's not much to do in iowa but read, fark, and smoke dope anyway

reklamfox:Good for them. In VA we still use standardized tests to rate our teachers effectiveness and they will pass anybody in order to keep their funding. Seriously, I walked across the stage with kids who could barely read and write at an elementary school level. It's insulting to the kids who worked hard and did well in school. At least this state seems to get that you cant reach every kid. Some of them are simply empty headed slack-jawed yokels who don't give a shiat about their education, and the school shouldn't be punished for that. I never thought I would say this, but good for Iowa.

/end rant

Don't know if this is your case but..

May of those kids like that have special education directives where they are in inclusive programs. Some earn diplomas, some earn something like a certificate of attendance. I don't think a person that is not capable of earning a diploma should get one, but I've not problem with them walking across the stage to get the empty diploma cover with everyone else... and then later trading in their rented gown for their certificate of attendance.

untaken_name:Gotta love that phrasing: ONLY failing 12%....How about ONLY passing 88%? I would have gotten disowned for bringing home a grade that poor.

Maybe your English grades were inflated?Anyway, there are plenty of kids whose parents don't care about their grades, because they (the parents) did poorly at school and no-one cared about them either. Or else, parents just get worn out and sick of it all. I was number 4 of 5 kids, and my parents had given up on caring by the time I was in school. No-one ever told me post-secondary school was something I could do. I always thought it was for a special class. I was pointed towards service jobs. I dropped out of high school when both parents ended up in other countries.Took a long time, and I still feel inadequate, but I can put Dr. in front of my name now.I rarely do, though.

nmrsnr:It's easy, just mail everyone who turns 18 a diploma, whether they deserve it or not.

Similar to what I was going to suggest was happening. How many are graduating and actually deserve to graduate? Are 12% just that stupid that there is no way in hell they could auto-pass them without being called on it?

I like to believe that the percentages are on the up and up, though. Shame the pass rate isn't higher but Iowa seems to be doing something right that a LOT of other districts in the nation should take notice of. (I'm looking at you, nation's capital).Of course there's the argument that you can't teach kids that don't want to be taught, etc. but maybe we need more incentive or something.I don't know.

All you East and West coasters better stay away from Iowa. You WILL be assaulted with polite conversation and extreme friendliness, then ruthlessly invited to a good home cooked dinner. And who would want that?

Rufus Lee King:nmrsnr: It's easy, just mail everyone who turns 18 a diploma, whether they deserve it or not.

/not suggesting that's what's happening, but don't states have different standards for graduation? How fair is this comparison?

FTA (fairly early in): "The 2010-11 academic year marked the first time all 50 states used a uniform, more rigorous standard to measure how many students graduated, the federal education report said."

Yes, a standardized method of counting the number of students who graduated, which is nice, but not necessarily standardizing the criteria for who qualifies for graduation. Those are different, and potentially very important.

reklamfox:Good for them. In VA we still use standardized tests to rate our teachers effectiveness and they will pass anybody in order to keep their funding. Seriously, I walked across the stage with kids who could barely read and write at an elementary school level. It's insulting to the kids who worked hard and did well in school. At least this state seems to get that you cant reach every kid. Some of them are simply empty headed slack-jawed yokels who don't give a shiat about their education, and the school shouldn't be punished for that. I never thought I would say this, but good for Iowa.

/end rant

Insulting? Really? "I got an education! All that kid got was a diploma! But somehow I'm the one who's insulted."

This. I'm a high school drop out. I had some serious personal issues going on in my life. I have a GED, but I have I've had two semesters in a row at college where I've gotten straight A's. Meanwhile, some of my peers with a HSD can not pass "fry cook" training at KFC.

i am 70, mother's oft repeated "you could do better" was not the encouragement she seemed to think it was. nor was her use of "and this is my son, he will be going back to college soon" a good intro to the new neighbor.

i did go back but never graduated, even with an AA. stopped 5 units short. long term i've had a good life and some personal successes but as you can see the early crap sticks.

for the little it may be worth i am proud of you for your doctorate. more than many of us did that had supporting families.

untaken_name:Gotta love that phrasing: ONLY failing 12%....How about ONLY passing 88%? I would have gotten disowned for bringing home a grade that poor.

I know, right? That's a LOT of kids the system is failing. More than 1 in 10 isn't even graduating high school in our BEST state? That's not something we should be bragging about, that should be a farking wakeup call.

"The 2010-11 academic year marked the first time all 50 states used a uniform, more rigorous standard to measure how many students graduated"

This is most likely one of the legacies of the much-maligned No Child Left Behind act. One of the things it tried to do is standardize...everything...across the states. Heck, before NCLB there was no standard way of measuring anything across the various educational systems.

Teachers hate it because, well, it's flawed. But for all its faults, it's started a ball rolling that the unions can't stop: that schools need to be held accountable for their lack of performance.

You'd think that was something that a school would be doing by default. You'd be wrong...at least for public schools.

speedycat:meds for the hypocrite: Graduation does not equal education.

This. I'm a high school drop out. I had some serious personal issues going on in my life. I have a GED, but I have I've had two semesters in a row at college where I've gotten straight A's. Meanwhile, some of my peers with a HSD can not pass "fry cook" training at KFC.

I shiat you not.

My uncle came here from Brazil at 17, dropped out of high school, got his GED, and now owns his own company with hundreds of employees.

Rufus Lee King:FTA (fairly early in): "The 2010-11 academic year marked the first time all 50 states used a uniform, more rigorous standard to measure how many students graduated, the federal education report said."

Uniform standards for MEASURING graduation rate is not the same as standards for earning a diploma.

All this means is they're not allowed to fudge the numbers by saying some students don't really count as students. It doesn't say how many illiterates were allowed to graduate, for instance.

mongbiohazard:untaken_name: Gotta love that phrasing: ONLY failing 12%....How about ONLY passing 88%? I would have gotten disowned for bringing home a grade that poor.

I know, right? That's a LOT of kids the system is failing. More than 1 in 10 isn't even graduating high school in our BEST state? That's not something we should be bragging about, that should be a farking wakeup call.

given the normal distribution of intelligence and other mitigating factors that might preclude a kid from graduating high school, what would you recommend as a reasonable graduation rate?

thomps:mongbiohazard: untaken_name: Gotta love that phrasing: ONLY failing 12%....How about ONLY passing 88%? I would have gotten disowned for bringing home a grade that poor.

I know, right? That's a LOT of kids the system is failing. More than 1 in 10 isn't even graduating high school in our BEST state? That's not something we should be bragging about, that should be a farking wakeup call.

given the normal distribution of intelligence and other mitigating factors that might preclude a kid from graduating high school, what would you recommend as a reasonable graduation rate?

it was 99% for years and years until the increased immigration from mexico and sudan the past two decades knocked it down some. I don't think it will take too long to get back up there though. I figure they must judge literacy as solely proficiency in english though as I assume most mexicans can write spanish.

besides, there's not much to do in iowa but read, fark, and smoke dope anyway

i also garden

Yes, it was TOTALLY those damn furriners. Not, I dunno, people wondering how the fark you get 99% of people to do the same thing? All I hear is "wah wah, someone called Iowa on it's bullshiat!".

Honestly, I thought I was probably getting a raw deal on public education growing up in downstate Illinois, then I got a load of what many New York public schools were doing and started thanking God every day that I went to high school where I did. Despite their mediocre marks on the annual rankings, they really did OK.

While it's certainly one possible explanation that Iowa schools are lowering the standards to make this happen, I wouldn't be too quick to make that assumption. It's just as possible that this is because they're not only running decent schools, but teaching students who are, overall, less likely to be struggling with language barriers and horrifying home lives.

mongbiohazard:thomps: mongbiohazard: untaken_name: Gotta love that phrasing: ONLY failing 12%....How about ONLY passing 88%? I would have gotten disowned for bringing home a grade that poor.

I know, right? That's a LOT of kids the system is failing. More than 1 in 10 isn't even graduating high school in our BEST state? That's not something we should be bragging about, that should be a farking wakeup call.

given the normal distribution of intelligence and other mitigating factors that might preclude a kid from graduating high school, what would you recommend as a reasonable graduation rate?

Better than what it is now. We're getting crushed by other first world nations.

well this is depressing:the U.S. was the only developed nation where a higher percent of 55- to 64-year-olds than 25- to 34-year-olds had graduated from high school.

but to be fair, you did just move the goalposts from 88% passage rate to something south of 75%...

AppleOptionEsc:Omahawg: AcneVulgaris: I wonder what the literacy rate is.

it was 99% for years and years until the increased immigration from mexico and sudan the past two decades knocked it down some. I don't think it will take too long to get back up there though. I figure they must judge literacy as solely proficiency in english though as I assume most mexicans can write spanish.

besides, there's not much to do in iowa but read, fark, and smoke dope anyway

i also garden

Yes, it was TOTALLY those damn furriners. Not, I dunno, people wondering how the fark you get 99% of people to do the same thing? All I hear is "wah wah, someone called Iowa on it's bullshiat!".

uh....yeah. I think it was since there wasn't much else different in Iowa to change those figures at the end of the 20th century. I'd assume by second generation after going through Iowa's mostly wonderful public education system that it will be 99% again soon enough. hell, my great-grandma didn't speak english until her kids taught her while they were in school.

so don't blame me....blame crappy schools in sudan, I guess. Kind of hard to get all literate when you're running for your life and hiding from the militias, ain't it? Do you have something against the sudanese? Do they make you feel short and pale standing next to them?

Omahawg:AppleOptionEsc: Omahawg: AcneVulgaris: I wonder what the literacy rate is.

it was 99% for years and years until the increased immigration from mexico and sudan the past two decades knocked it down some. I don't think it will take too long to get back up there though. I figure they must judge literacy as solely proficiency in english though as I assume most mexicans can write spanish.

besides, there's not much to do in iowa but read, fark, and smoke dope anyway

i also garden

Yes, it was TOTALLY those damn furriners. Not, I dunno, people wondering how the fark you get 99% of people to do the same thing? All I hear is "wah wah, someone called Iowa on it's bullshiat!".

uh....yeah. I think it was since there wasn't much else different in Iowa to change those figures at the end of the 20th century. I'd assume by second generation after going through Iowa's mostly wonderful public education system that it will be 99% again soon enough. hell, my great-grandma didn't speak english until her kids taught her while they were in school.

so don't blame me....blame crappy schools in sudan, I guess. Kind of hard to get all literate when you're running for your life and hiding from the militias, ain't it? Do you have something against the sudanese? Do they make you feel short and pale standing next to them?

Omahawg:what the heck am I deflecting from? what demographics changed in Iowa from 1950-2010?

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/19000.html

Anyone non-white, to be sure.

Currently 88.4% of Iowa is white. 5% is latino and foreign borns are 4%. That's a grand total of 9%, at most (given crossover). So unless you felt the need to say all of those non-white folks are dragging the rest of Iowa down, your laughable attempt to make me seem like someone who has a issue with non-americans ruining the Iowa Education System is chuckleworthy. Especially considering I figured, maybe it was a lack of "pass everyone who wander into this door.".